We sing songs about the incredible worth of the Lamb. But how convinced are we of his worth? Do our lives demonstrate that we truly believe our own words? Do we live a life dedicated to His worth? I think that most of the trouble we have living a life committed to Jesus comes from areas of unbelief. We can’t live for him beyond the faith we truly have in his absolute supremacy of all things. When we truly believe in his absolute worth, we will actually live a life dedicated to him.

I’m not talking about mere power and strength, but goodness, kindness and love. The Lamb of God is worthy of all because of his love. After all, that’s why Our Father God sent the Son. God sent his Son because He loved the world, not because he needed the world to worship him. This does not negate the worth of The Lamb’s worship but it enhances it! This is the reason for the Lamb’s worth.

” 8When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song, saying…

“Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain…”

Heaven declared the Lamb is worthy because he was slain. Jesus’ worth is rooted in his life laid down for the world. Recall what else John said about what happened when Jesus was slain…

1 John 3: 16We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us...

1 John 4 9By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The Lamb gave himself to be slain because of love. Since he was worthy because he was slain, He is worthy because of his love.

Essentially, Heaven was worshipping Jesus because He was the Lamb who demonstrated God’s love. Finally. Whether they knew it or not, all of mankind had been waiting for God to fully reveal his love. Judaism was supposed to be the vessel of his love towards the world, but they fell far short of God’s glory. Indeed, we all sinned. But The Lamb revealed the love of God by taking away the sins of the world. By love and faithfulness, sins were atoned for. But whereas the Law atoned (covered) sins, The Lamb took away..

The Law was fulfilled by God himself demonstrating the greatest love ever. God reconciled the world to himself in Christ Jesus by not imputing (holding) the world’s sins against them. This is why the Lamb is worthy of all…

HOW MUCH IS ALL?

Let’s continue with the prophetic and poetic imagery of John’s Revelation.

Revelation 5:

11Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,12saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”13And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

I am convinced this has not happened yet, but it’s in our future. I do agree that most of Revelation (especially chapters 6-14) has been completely fulfilled. But do we think every created being has given worship to the Lamb?

Not yet.

WHAT THE HELL?

Consider how complete the description of worship was. Everything in Heaven (Which is “above” the earth) Everything on the earth. Everything under the earth. Everything on the sea. He basically said everything “Up, down and under” will worship. And then just in case we thought he may have left something out, he added “all things” in them. Did he just tack on the end ~ “all things in all of those places”? I’m pretty sure he did. And I’m also pretty sure that leaves nothing out.

Well, someone may say “What about Hell?”

Yes. What about Hell? First of “Hell” is not actually mentioned much in the New Testament, let alone in Revelation. But the times that the word “Hell” was unfortunately added to the NT, it is often from the Greek word “Hades”. Hades was the mythological underworld of the dead in the Ancient Near East and Jesus did referenced it when speaking of the place of the dead . Hades was called “Sheol” in the Hebrew and thought of as being in the ground/under the earth because that’s where we have always buried our dead. I’m sure that idea of Hades is where we carried over our understanding of “Hell being underneath us”. (See Isaiah 14:9)

This is not the place for a deep study on Hades/Hell but, I will mention that many translations did insert “Hell” in the Book of Revelation. When we briefly reference this hades, we need to keep in mind that these first century readers all understood hades to be in or under the earth.

After the devil, beast and false prophet will be thrown into the Lake of Fire (which seems to be different than “Hell”), we have our only other mention of Hades/Hell and it’s inhabitants.

Revelation 20:11Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened; and another scroll was opened, which is of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the scrolls, according to their deeds. 13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14Then death and Hades (Often translated “Hell”) were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.15And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

This is almost definitely “the second resurrection” and I think we need to be reminded that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. (John 11). Satan has never resurrected anyone. Only Jesus resurrects because Jesus isThe Resurrection. These people who came to life must be understood as being resurrected by Jesus. Why does Jesus resurrect the unbelieving dead? What if it’s for the sake of drawing them to himself, now that he has been lifted up? (John 12:32)

I find it interesting that before the Cross, Jesus said The Lord was not Lord of the dead, but of the living (Luke 20:38). However Paul said that Jesus died for the purpose of becoming Lord of both the living and the dead! (Romans 14:8,9)It’s only a matter of time before all the living and dead worship Jesus Christ as Lord. (Romans 14:10-11)

It’s very important to notice that the unbelievers in Hades will actually be thrown into the Lake of Fire (never translated “Hell”.) Who else gives up their dead? The sea and the “Death”. This is interesting because the Young’s Literal Translation accurately translates it this way ~ “and the sea did give up those dead in it, and the death and the hades did give up the dead in them” (20:13)

The Sea. The Death. The Hades. They all gave their dead.

The Death and The Hades go hand in hand all throughout Revelation. (Rev.1:18, 6:8and 20:13) Just as they often did in the Old Testament. If you aren’t aware of this fact, Revelation is actually the most Jewish book in the New Testament, with perhaps the exceptions of Matthew and Hebrews. Revelation contains literally hundreds of direct quotes and numerous references to the Old Covenant. Most modern teachers miss this reality because they are looking for fulfillment of Revelation in the newspaper instead of in the Bible. The point being that “Death and Hades” were often mentioned together in the Old Testament and understood to be places the dead went to “in the underworld” and so they should be known within the context of Revelation.

The point of all this is to clarify what John’s Hebrew and ancient Greek thinking audience would have understood when they read these passages about “The Death and the Hades”. They would not have assumed that this is the final end of these people who were resurrected from the underworld. Because John had already informed the reader/hearer about the end of all those living “under the earth”. So The Death and Hades were temporary holding places for the dead in or under the earth until the second Resurrection. This is not purgatory, which is a modern invention loosely based on the Old Testament understanding of the underworld or “realm of the dead”.

There is something after Hades/Hell for unbelievers and it involves being resurrected by Jesus. But even after they are resurrected, thrown into the Lake of Fire, this does not appear to be the absolute end. Let’s go back to the climax of the entire book of Revelation, which we are actively involved in fulfilling with the Living Lamb King inside us ~13And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

Everything in Heaven, on the earth **and under the earth!** will worship the Lamb! Everyone who will be resurrected in the Sea, The Death and The Hades will go through the Lake of Fire, but they will come out on the other side worshipping the Lamb of God! This is absolutely confirmed throughout the Old Testament, the letters of Paul, and even the end of Revelation.

Concerning the Lake of Fire, now that we know neither “Hades”, “Gehanna” or “Hell” are actually the Lake of Fire, we can see a profound and yet simple truth. Yes, many people will go into the LOF. However, it never says that anyone in the LOF will burn forever. There is actually a call at the very end of the Book for all who are in outside the gates and in the fire to turn to Jesus and enter the city, whose gates are never shut! (Rev.21:8, 25 & 22:14,15) The problem is that for generations we have been so inundated with the misconception of Hell and eternal conscious torment, that we have almost completely shut off any possibility of anyone coming out being an option. So here are a few references to remind us of the worth of the Lamb King, Jesus Christ who is Lord of all.

ALL FOR JESUS –

Some people may argue that not everyone in the Lake of Fire will come out because some will be literally destroyed. They may argue that the unbelievers will cease to exist. This view can be known as Annihilationism/Conditional Immortality (CI) and I do believe it’s an upgrade above “Eternal conscious torment”, which is a demonic idea. But does CI give Father God and Jesus the most gory? I believe only complete restoration does because of the Absolutely Victorious Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 11:32-36 says that God will show mercy to all. All things are from God, by God and for God.

Ephesians 1:9,10 says God’s will is to unite all things in Heaven and earth in Christ. Verses 22,23 say that Christ is filling all things with himself by us. Paul later summarizes that idea in 3:14,15 by saying that Father God has named every family on Heaven and earth through himself (in Christ). He finalizes it in Eph.4:5,6 with these profound words ~5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”

Remember those “under the earth”? Even they will finally come to faith in Jesus Christ! Philippians 2: 10That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: 11And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.”

This is what glorifies God.

The absolute worth of the Lamb is based on his Absolute Victory and must eventually be followed by the absolute voluntary worship from every living creature.

This is not by any means a teaching. Please consider it a query. A discussion. A big “what if?” like a child gazing up into the sky and wondering if perhaps there is more to explore…

As we grow in the reality of seeing the Face of Jesus, I realize that not everything I see is him. Sometimes I thought I saw him, but my perspective must have been foggy. Perhaps I mistook something out of the corner of my eye. Maybe I had an overlooked splinter of some forgotten Scripture impeding my view. Although his Face never changes, my perspective of him does. The changes never take place in him; they are always taking place in me. Some days I find that I may have gone more steps backwards than I did forward.

Is this one of those days? Only time will tell…

A WRATHFUL FATHER?

Let’s tinker with the idea that God may have never had wrath. Let’s think of God as Brian Zahnd says ~ “God is like Jesus. God has always been like Jesus. There has never been a time when God was not like Jesus. We have not always known what God is like— But now we do.”

This lays aside the ideas that the Greek word for wrath is “ogre” which can also be translated as “passion”. I have heard this preached and have not dismissed it, but it’s not the angle I am currently exploring. Maybe it’s right and this is wrong! I don’t know, but let’s temporarily discard the notion. At least for now, let’s describe wrath as we typically hear it. “Anger, vengeance, punishment…”

Does that sound like Jesus?

Even when he flipped the tables in the temple and drove out the merchants, we have absolutely no record of him actually hitting anyone. We have no record of Jesus ever inflicting pain on a single person in his entire life! All that came from the One and only One who could perfectly say ~”“Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9)

Where was Jesus’ wrath in his life and death? Doesn’t it seem like he had no wrath like we have ever known? Since no one had previously seen God, but the Son had fully revealed him; is it possible that Our Father also never had wrath? What if the veil that covered His Face and is removed In Jesus truly was the written letter of the Scriptures? What if only the Spirit of Truth gives life to the god of death in the law of stone?

True, in Romans 7:12Paul said the Law is holy. The Commandment is righteous, holy and good! But why? He said because it is spiritual and not fleshly.

What if Paul was simply saying the same thing that he wrote in 2 Corinthians 3 & 4 in a different way? Isn’t that exactly what Paul did so often? Saying the same profound truth with different language to different people was one of the things that made Paul’s letters so interesting.

What if understanding the Law according to the physical/literal written code still brings death? (Consider Romans 8:5-8 which seems to explain Romans 7) What if thinking according to the Spirit is the only way to give life and remove the veil of that legalistic letter? What if the point of the New Covenant is more than seeing God through the lens of Jesus now but seeing Father through the lens of “The Lamb slain before the foundation of the world”?

Why else would Jesus have “been slain” since before creation (if that is what Rev.13:8 means) if not to provide God’s eternal Covenant from the beginning? What if Jesus was called the Last Adam because he was before the first Adam and was greater than him?

What if the righteousness of the One preceded and therefore far exceeds the transgression of the one man? If the Lamb was truly slain (even if not literally) before the foundation of the world, was there ever a time that sin spoke louder than mercy before God? It sounds like mercy has always triumphed over judgement…even before judgement had a voice.

But these questions will not be answered with philosophy. Not for us. They must be answered with Scripture. That’s what I love most about Welton Academy and BCT. We truly love and revere the written words within the Scriptures. I have learned so much from BCT and recommend it to everyone! However, I will never forget the first class “Disrupting Culture” when the Good Dr described the 5 realms and said something like ~ “I don’t know if there’s more after the New Covenant realm. In only know that there are these 5.”

What if there is another “realm”? What if New Covenant reveals and therefore leads to “Our Father”?

Look I’m definitely not trying to assert that I have seen some unique revelation beyond the Good Dr and Welton Academy. Many people are preaching the Father. Leif Hetland, Brian Zahnd, C. Baxter Kruger, just to name a few. I am just proposing the question that arose within my heart when hearing these other sons of God speak ~ “How good is Our Father?”

What if he has always been so good that he never had destructive wrath? What if all of that killing, stealing and destroying always has been accomplished by the one who is evil?

WHAT ABOUT SATAN?

It’s impossible to inquire into a possible lack of wrath in Our Father without considering the alternative…satan.

I want to take the traditional route when considering satan and call him an actual entity of only evil. I believe satan is a real spiritual force of darkness and evil that deceives and influences people.

The interesting thing about satan is how little the OT understood him. Consider this summary of Biblical understanding concerning “who killed” in the Bible. The large majority of these deaths are OT.

WTF? (Can I say that? Oh well…I technically didn’t say it but only thought it.) Was satan sleeping? What was satan doing while “god” was busy drowning people in floods, smashing babies heads on rocks and burning entire cities with fire and brimstone? Maybe satan thought “with enemies like that, who needs friends?” Maybe satan was just chilling because god was doing all his dirty work for him…

Sorry about that, I’m done being snarky.

How curious though that the OT has almost no revelation of satan and at the same time claims that God was behind so much killing, stealing and destroying. I can almost detail every account of satan in the OT, but I won’t. I simply want to breeze over a few of them.

SATAN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT ~

Satan in the garden. We know that satan deceived eve in the garden, but let’s not forget “how” he did it. He directly assaulted the character of God by implying that God had kept something good from them.

Satan in Job. Job was living a blessed, healthy and protected life until satan tried to “tempt God” by asking permission to kill, steal and destroy. How interesting that satan was allowed to talk to God and accuse people “in Heaven”. Keep that in mind…

Satan in Zechariah. Zechariah saw a vision that ultimately pointed to Jesus (don’t they all?) He saw a man named Jesus (Joshua is also the original Hebrew form of the Greek name Jesus.) This Jesus stood as a High Priest before the Lord dressed in sinful garments. While this was happening (presumably around the time of the Cross) Satan stood at the lord’s right hand accusing him.

I believe that all 3 of these ideas concerning satan killing, destroying and tempting lead very well to my last instance.

Satan tempts David. This is where it gets very interesting and I would like to propose may possibly be the most profound revelation of satan in the entire OT. The time David was tempted to number the people of Israel and unfortunately did so. He was given 3 choices to pick his own “punishment” and he chose to lean on the Lord’s mercy. But what’s super curious to me is how the 2 different versions of the story describe this event. For whatever reason, 1 Chronicles and 2 Samuel both tell the story. But with what seems to be completely different perspectives…

2 Samuel 24:1 ~“Now again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and it incited David against them to say, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”

Hold the phone. Did the anger (wrath) of the Lord tempt David or did Satan tempt him? Yes. Apparently both are equally true. What if this one simple idea is the red pill that was meant to wake up all of Israel to the true thief? What if Our Father was never behind those 2 million plus deaths and satan really was busier than the OT writers realized? What if those men (who were not born-again) never learned to discern the difference between the Spirit of God and another spirit?

It would certainly make sense in the story of David, because being tempted “by the Lord” to number his people is very unjust considering that the same author said the same Lord punished David for doing so. Basically, God tempted David to do evil and then punished him for yielding to said temptation.

That doesn’t sound like Good News.

SATAN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT ~

Again, I can’t recount every instance of satan in the NT but here are a few that support what I am proposing. (What? Me cherry-pick?) Seriously, I understand that there are NT Scriptures that are already popping up to contradict the idea that Our Father never would hurt anyone but I will leave those to you guys for now. By no means do I have this figured out. I don’t even know if I believe what I have written for the past hour or more. But I want to believe. I hope. Dare I hope?

A FEW SELECT OCCURRENCES OF SATAN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT ~

LIKE A ROARING LION ~ Proverbs 28:15 had said “A wicked ruler is as dangerous to the poor as a roaring lion…”Did Peter pick up on Solomon’s theme when he said ~ “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8)

LIKE A DRAGON IN HEAVEN ~ Revelation 12 is thought by many to be the center of The Apocalypse. The Good Dr Jonathan Welton refers to chapter 12 as the center of the chiastic form, which makes it the climax of history. (Vision 1 in “The Art of Revelation”) Here are a few nuggets of food for thought concerning satan from Rev.12

12:7 ~Satan and his angels actually engaged in battle in Heaven. Whether literally or figuratively, we should consider the implications of “why” and “how” there was ever anything to fight over in Heaven.

12:8 ~ Satan lost and there was **no longer** any place available to them in Heaven. Doesn’t that mean that satan had previously always had a place in Heaven? How would that truth have affected mankind’s relationship to Our Father?

12:9 ~ Satan was finally thrown down. He was the one who deceived the entire world! (This is actually the Greek word “cosmos” for world and is one of the very few times it was used in Revelation.) What had satan deceived the entire world about?

12:10 ~ Satan was identified as the accuser of the brethren. Does that mean that without satan having been present, there would have never been any accusations towards the brethren before God? Does that mean that God truly never kept a record or wrongs, but satan was the only one who did? Does that mean that all those OT rituals to “cleanse the worshippers” before God (according to the Law) were only necessary because of satan? Asking for a friend….

Oh…One more detail about that. It said satan was accusing “them before our God day and night” Is it possible that is referring to the OT rituals of daily morning and evening offerings? The entire book of Revelation is focused on Old Covenant Temple symbolism from beginning to end. We know that God never desired sacrifices so perhaps this is just another subtle hint…

12:12 ~ The Heavens rejoice but “woe to the earth (inhabited earth?) and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has a short time.” The devil had great wrath? Doesn’t that sound reminiscent of “The anger of the Lord/ satan arose and tempted David…”? These 2 times may be the only examples of Scripture recording satan having wrath and check this out…

They were both written concerning the Kings ascension to the Throne! The first king David only fore-shadowed the King of Kings, but satan working wrath seems to have been concealed apart from the King on the Throne. Considering how much of Revelation hints to Old Testament ideas, I don’t think it’s far-fetched. What if the entire idea of wrath throughout this book is supposed to be understood as “satan having great wrath” and not Jesus being wrathful? Wouldn’t that be more consistent with the life and death of the Lamb King?

So here I am almost 4 hours later and I still don’t know. Actually, it’s been more like 4 years since I started exploring these ideas concerning the nature of Our Father. I honestly don’t know what I believe regarding wrath and Covenant or Jesus and Our unchanging Father’s nature. Maybe you don’t have similar questions and that’s fine. Maybe it’s better than fine. Maybe you are completely settled on BCT and these questions don’t interest you at all. Maybe you are better off than me…I really don’t know. All I know is that I haven’t arrived at all Truth concerning Our Father. I probably never will in this lifetime. So I will keep seeking the Lord about questions like these and trusting the Spirit of Truth to guide me into all truth. (John 16:12-14)

So please let me know what you think concerning these ideas that do challenge BCT. What about the Scriptures I shared? What about the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world? What are the implications of that statement with BCT?

Whatever you want to call the age that comes next ~ ‘Heaven”, ‘The Kingdom of God”, “The Millennium”, ‘The Kingdom of the Father”, “The afterlife”….I’m not hung up on strictly defining what comes next.

I just don’t hear people ever speak about the following life as though it will require faith. It sounds like we are all equally convinced that everything good will automatically come to us from God. (To those who believed in Christ during this life, of course…)

So basically, believe now and your current faith will eliminate the need for future faith?

But faith has always been and still is what was required to please God…even back to the first family on earth. (Hebrews 11)

It seems that we often sound like the OT Prophet Isaiah, who spoke of the promises concerning the future Age with almost a guaranteed certainty. But, what if those promises are conditional…what if we actually have the potential to receive those promises now…if we would believe?

My point is that Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would reveal everything pertaining to Father God. (John 16:12-15) Yet, we often allow our life to experience things that are clearly not Father God’s perfect will (on earth as it is in Heaven). Myself included, we too often passively accept “less than God’s best” because we don’t automatically experience it.

It’s so easy to live by sight and accept things that are contrary to “Your will be done on earth, just as it is in Heaven” when we see so little of Heaven in earth. But we are called to live by faith and not by sight.

This is not about physical stuff for me. I do believe that God blesses us financially, physically and materially. But that is never the main theme of the Gospel. I am completely convinced that Jesus revealed, when we prioritizing seeking Kingdom things, Father provides for our worldly needs. (Matt.6:31-34) However, this Gospel is mostly about spiritual promises.

The promise of experiencing joy, peace and hope. (Rom.15:13)

We experience all these better things by intimately “knowing Father”. This is everlasting life! (John 17:3) and we have the privilege of experiencing everlasting life now! (1 John 5:13) We already have everlasting life, but we don’t automatically experience what God has already given us just because we *believed once*! The righteous aren’t merely born-again by faith, they live by faith!

All of these amazing experiences are merely attributes of our Father’s character. We already have him (and everything that He is) living inside our inner beings. We merely need to grow in our awareness of who He is and what he is like. (2 Peter 1:1-12)

I’m convinced that we have been given more than we could ever know. All of the Trinity is alive and powerfully active in us. (Colossians 2:6-10) We can choose to live by sight and experience whatever comes at us. Or we can “fight the good fight of the faith” and contend for all that God has already freely given us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 1:3 says “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”

I think it honors our Father that we contend for experiencing “every spiritual blessing” in this life. This is not primarily for our own benefit. It’s mostly for the benefit of increasing his Kingdom in our lives, so that it continues to fill the world. Why?

Because “The Kingdom of God is not food or drink but, righteousness, joy and peace IN the Holy Spirit.” (Rom.14:17)

So let’s get busy.
1st. Growing in relationship with our Father of hope, joy and peace.
2nd. Let’s learn how to do more than experience all his “spiritual blessing” promises but, how to manifest them to the world.
3rd. Let’s learn how to teach everyone that is in our lives and willing to know Father “how to” do the same. This is how I desire to cooperate with the increase of his Kingdom and of peace, which has no end.

Because according to Jesus, we “cannot bear good fruit” *except* when we abide in love!

What does that mean?

It means that we can *perform* millions of “good deeds” that have no value in the Kingdom. Like Paul, we would look back and say ~ all those things that I *had done* for the sake of religion, I “count them but rubbish”. (Phil.3:2-10 summarized)

Paul made it abundantly clear that even if he had all knowledge, power, revelation, musical ability, etc…and had not performed them in perfect (selfless) love, they were dead works! (1 Cor.13:1-4)

So let’s slow down with our desire to do great and mighty things and seek the “better way” that Paul spoke of when he exhorted Corinth to pursue the *greater gifts* in 1 Cor.12.

The Better way is love.
The greatest gift is love.
The greater works that Jesus spoke of in John 14:12?

Perfect love.

Anything that is not performed in perfect, selfless, humble love is dead works in the Kingdom.

Jesus spoke of this abiding in John 15: 4“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.”

What is this fruit and how do we bear it?

John 15: 8“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.”

Jesus’ did abide in the love of the Father and *that* is how he glorified the Father and bore much fruit. Jesus wasn’t motivated by a list of rules or Commandments. Jesus was motivated by agape love for the Father and the world!

When we “walk as he walked“, we live by faith in Father God’s love. When we abide in love, we almost accidentally do good deeds. Good deeds are a natural overflow of a person intoxicated with the love of God! Good works are the default setting for a beloved son or daughter. We don’t have to conjure up some list of obligations just like I don’t wake up everyday with a burden to prove my love for my children and wife.

As I abide in love, I find myself spontaneously performing loving acts of selfless service and giving. Like I said, it’s almost accidental.

Just like a “branch” on “The Vine” does not need to strive to bear good fruit. By virtue of being connected to the Vine, a branch bears good fruit. It’s natural.

So be like Jesus and receive the love from the Father!

Actually, you can’t even continually experience the Presence of God unless you abide in love! 1 John 4:16We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17By this, love is perfected with us…”

Without first abiding in God, we cannot experience the tangible Presence of God abiding in us.

Bask in God’s love first thing in the morning and easily and naturally continue to grow deeper rooted in his love (Eph.3:15-20). Then observe the good fruit that will abundantly overflow from your intimate union with Jesus, who is the Vine of Love!

Love is the Vine and love is the fruit. Abide in love and you will bear the One perfect fruit of the Spirit, which is love! (Gal.5:22)

These words of Paul are often quoted from the pulpit to convince Christians that they are the most evil sinners ever. This verse is often mistakingly used towards congregations and suggested that we should all believe this about ourselves. Yet, we are told that we are already New Creatures and the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus! (2 Cor.5:16-21)

Unfortunately sometimes people still try to guilt and shame people into the arms of Father God instead of declaring the glory of the Gospel, which is incredibly Good News! The only possible explanation is that their intentions are great, but their theology…not so much.

One of the aspects of this wonderful Gospel that Paul preached was that Jesus made us saints by faith. We don’t make ourself saints (literally holy ones) because no one can make themselves as holy as Father God. Only Jesus was able to consecrate us to God and that’s exactly what he did! Hebrews 10:1-14 describes this in OT language that conveys how our High Priest, Jesus took us into the Father’s Presence in his own body and sanctified us forever! (Sanctified literally means “to make holy”.)

Does it say that Paul considered himself the “worst of sinners”? True, this is how many versions interpret the Greek word “protos”. But out of the 32 times that exact word and tense were used in the NT, not one other time was it translated “worst”. Why this time? Probably because of a sin-conscious bias, but that’s none of my business…

The Truth is that this word “protos” is always translated “chief” or “first” elsewhere. First is not about quantity or quality but chronology. Paul was merely stating, that he was the first of sinners to get completely wrecked by the mercy of God.

That’s pretty hard to understand so let’s go with a happy middle-ground in the ESV. We need to also start a few verses earlier to understand the context of what exactly Paul was describing. So many times, people simply throw out one bizarre sounding verse without respect to the intent of the writer. I have heard it said “whenever you take the text out of context, all you are left with is a con.”

1 Timothy 1:12-16 ~ “12I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”

Paul was admitting his wicked past in v.13a, because he had previously dedicated his life to persecuting God’s children! But, he did so in unbelief and ignorance. That was the reason he received mercy (v.13b) and then in v.16 he restated why he received mercy.

The reason he received mercy was because of 1 Timothy 1:15. He received mercy because he was the first of sinners that Jesus was displaying his perfect patience (via Paul) as an example. You were not the first of sinners that Jesus was using as an example to those who believe. Paul was. Neither you nor I persecuted the saints from house to house. Paul did.

Yes, we were all sinners. Yes, Jesus came in to the world to save sinners (plural) but there was only one first of sinners that God was revealing his patient mercy through and that was the man whom he changed to a saint. This “first of sinners” was Saul who became the saint Paul; who eventually wrote almost half the NT. Scriptures.

PAUL’S TRUE OPINION OF BELIEVERS ~

So we see that Paul did not call everyone “the first of sinners”, but he did call them sinners that Jesus came to save. This begs the question ~ “are believers still sinners?”

Consider that Paul never once called any believer a sinner. Not one time did Paul call even the carnal church of Corinth sinners. He actually started both letters to Corinth by addressing them as “saints’. In 6 of Paul’s epistles, he called them saints within the introduction of the the first chapter (*see below*). In total, Paul called them “Saints” (which literally means “holy ones”) almost 40 times. Never once did he call them sinners. Yes there were many verses in the NT where Paul can be quoted saying they “were” sinners. But every single instance was where Paul was clearly speaking of their existence before the Cross. The Cross made all the difference in the world!

*Paul’s 6 introductions addressing believers as “saints”*

Some of these need to be read from a literal translation and not a watered-down version or paraphrase like the NLT.

The point is that God has made us and declares us holy saints. Remember that Peter said ~ “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation…” The Gospel does not merely call us to live holy. First the Gospel reveals that God has made us holy so that we may live holy! An unholy creature cannot live holy. A sinner can’t live like a saint. Jesus first made us good by his accomplishment initiated upon the Cross and that’s why we can live holy and righteous!

These holy and righteous actions must be founded upon a holy and righteous foundation. Jesus laid the foundation of our identity in him. Now we renew our minds in the truth of who we are in Christ (Eph.4:23,24)and identify with the holy, righteous person that we are in him so that we can bear good fruit!

Remember the time that the religious Jewish leaders tried to trap Jesus? First the Sadducees sent one of theirs with a trick question. (Matt. 22:21-33) As usual, Jesus stunned the crowds with his profound wisdom. So, the Pharisees sent a “Lawyer”, which was literally an expert on the Law…

35One of them, an expert in the Law, tested him by asking, 36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

It’s important to notice that they did not ask about the Gospel. They specifically asked Jesus about the greatest commandment in *The Law*. Jesus did not come to bring the Law. Moses and the Prophets brought the Law, but Jesus came to fulfill the Law. He came to complete it in every aspect! Which is exactly what he did. But remember that Jesus was answering their question concerning the Law and not the Gospel.

37Jesus told him, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the greatest and most important commandment.39The second is exactly like it: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Is the greatest commandment still “Love the Lord your God with all your heart…?”

NEW COVENANT GIVEN ~

Immediately before Jesus went to the Cross, he ate “The Last Passover Supper” with his 12 disciples. After Jesus washed their feet and initiated the “Lord’s Supper”, he dismissed Judas, the betrayer. Then and only then did Jesus finally reveal the inauguration of the New Covenant!

“Drink from it, all of you, 28because this is my blood of the new covenant that is being poured out for many people for the forgiveness of sins.” ~ Matt.26:27b,28

My favorite was the Apostle John’s perspective on the evening. John recorded profound truths that the other 3 did not. This was all inspired by the Holy Spirit, but for some reason, God kept the best for last. John didn’t write his until over a decade after the others. Where the other 3 recorded a few verses concerning this intimate occasion between the Lord and his faithful 11, John recorded 4 amazing chapters!

John 13-17 are among the most important chapters in the entire Bible.

Why?

Firstly because only John recorded the single New Covenant Commandment. Remember that Moses gave 10 commandments at Mt. Sinai when they received the Mosaic Covenant and Law. Abraham was given One Commandment of circumcision when he received His Covenant. None of those are in effect for the New Covenant believer because they were all fulfilled by the One. Jesus fulfilled those in himself and therefore was the only One able to give us the New! Neither Matthew, Mark or Luke record the words of the Lord Jesus’ “New Commandment”.

WHAT IS THE ONE COMMAND?

34“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

There is so much meat in this one command. I want to break this down by a few points.

It expects more than the Law.

It demonstrated Love fulfilled.

It provides whereas the Law demanded.

Is more required?

Yes and no. Let’s deal with the “yes” first. The Law was summarized by ~ “Love the Lord your God with all your being and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt.22:40)

This was a good thing, but it does demand a lot! All of the emphasis is on how much the person must do. They were required to love God with all of *their ability*. They were required to love their neighbor to the extent that they loved themselves. However, we are *now* told to go above and beyond that love in the Law and love each other “to the extent” that Jesus loved!

Jesus loved the world with a greater love than any person could ever work up on their own. No human could ever manufacture that powerful love!

Jesus just took the “love Law” to a whole ‘notha level!

It’s not enough to merely love people as you love yourself. Under the Law, the love that they had for themselves was actually inadequate. Even, if they were able to not break the law and therefore not sin; they would’ve all still fallen short of his glory! God expects us to love with his perfect love. God can finally ask that from us because he first demonstrated it. Perfect love, which is the highest law, has been revealed.

2. How was perfect love revealed?

God’s love for us had not been fully made known before the Cross. “This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.” ~ 1 John 4:9 The Cross is how God revealed his love!

“This is real love–not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” ~ 1 John 4:10 Now we see that love is not first from us to God, but initiated from God to us! Once more~ 19We love, because He first loved us.” God made the first move. We simply respond. Our entire Faith depends on this Truth. The Law could not reveal this, it could only reveal people’s inability!(Romans 3:20)

God redefined love by revealing it in himself, in the flesh of Jesus, the Word of God. Love is not what you do for God; it’s what God has done for us!

Back to Jesus’ words before the Cross ~ John 15:12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

No greater love had ever before been known to mankind! God, as a man, laid down his life for his friends. Even though the world hated him, Jesus was a friend to them and laid down his life for everyone. This was a greater love than the Law was able to reveal…and we are expected to love one another with the same selfless love that Jesus showed in his life.

But there is so much Good News in this. Because this Gospel functions differently than the Law. The Law was so focused on demanding from people! But, the Gospel doesn’t expect without providing….

3. How does the New Covenant provide?

This is where the Gospel says “no” to demanding more than the Law. Because where the Law commanded, the Gospel empowers! Why can God ask us to love one another with the full capacity of his love? Because not only has God now demonstrated love. He has given us his love in the Holy Spirit!

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God…” 1 John 3:1b

Do we see it? This Gospel is so much more than salvation from hell and the promise of Heaven. He has granted us the right to be his heirs in life (now) because we are his children. That’s something that we can continually hope for in spite of any negative circumstances in our lives because we know He’s working it out for our good.

Romans 5:5and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

The Holy Spirit shines the love of God in our hearts and continually empowers us as we trust him. The Holy Spirit has many aspects. He was the “7-fold anointing” that remained on Jesus and empowered him. The Spirit of wisdom, revelation, fear of the Lord, knowledge of God, counsel, Spirit of the Lord and the Spirit of power! (Isaiah 11:1-3)

Paul spoke of the Holy Spirit this way ~ “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Power and the Spirit of love that God has released in us! God’s love is not something that we have to work up, it’s something that we merely abide in. Remember that we perceive God’s love in Jesus life and death. He has given us this great love by his Holy Spirit in us and we respond by consenting to this Truth!

John 15:9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.”

This sums it all up perfectly! This one small verse summarizes all 3 aspects of the New Commandment. It reveals God’s love demonstrated. It articulates the One Command’s expectations and it provides the key to fulfilling God’s requirement.

“Abide in my love.”

This one simple truth is truly much more than being nice to people. 1 Corinthians 13 described the reality that love is much more than mere actions. True Agape love is definitely not a feeling. It’s the very motivation of all the God is and has ever done. It’s the perfection of God manifested in human flesh. And it’s only possible by first believing in God’s infinite love.

FOCUS ON HIS LOVE FOR YOU ~

In Ephesians 3 Paul prayed ~16I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.17Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.19May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Do you want to be completely perfect and filled with God?

Abide in love.

That’s the long and the short of what Paul was describing in these profound passages. It’s not complicated. This is a Simple Gospel!

1 John 4:11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.12No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. “

Beloved, Be loved and be love. Perceive the Love that God has for us which he demonstrated in Christ. Believe it with all your heart and don’t let anything shake you from the Truth that God always loves you and receive his love for yourself. Then and only then can we fulfill the Perfect Law to love one another to the extent that Jesus loved!

John 15:9“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.” ~ Jesus

Peter was born-again and Holy Spirit-filled, but he still had some Law tendencies in him. Paul was passionate about his church not being influenced by that legalistic leaven and very clearly corrected him.

The message ~ A Law mentality only exposes the sinfulness of sin in our lives because the Law cannot reveal righteousness. The Gospel reveals how grace empowers us over sin because the Gospel revealed approval with God by faith alone.

THE WEAKNESS OF THE LAW~

Romans 7:13 stated that the purpose of sin was to show the exceeding sinfulness of sin! Notice that it does not say to show the sinfulness of *the sinner*! No. The nonreligious sinner needs more than sin exposed. They know their own wicked deeds. Their own heart and conscience testifies against them. What they lack is a revelation of God! They need to perceive his goodness (which draws them to repentance). God needed to expose his love!

Back to Romans 7:13 where it said that the purpose of the Law was to expose the sinfulness of sin! The Law revealed what sin truly was. Sin brought death, pain, misery, etc… Sin made people feel disconnected from God. The Law perfectly exposed all of this.

Romans 3:20 and 7:7 clearly declared that “The Law brought knowledge of sin.” This word is more than information about sin. It’s relationship with sin that the Law brought! The same kind of knowledge of God that we have through intimacy with God. The same kind of “knowing” that Adam had with his wife Eve when she conceived. It’s not a head knowledge. The Law gave people an intimate relationship with sin because it empowered sin in their lives! (Romans 7:8-13) Consider 1 Corinthians 15:”56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

“The power of sin is the Law!” If we preach a mixed Gospel with even an ounce of Law in it, we empower sin! Unfortunately the Law gives sin more power in a persons life.

THE POWER OF GOD IS THE GOSPEL!

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for *IT* is the power of God unto salvation…” (Romans 1:16)

Why is the Gospel the power of God?

“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith!” Romans 1:17

Remember that the Messianic Jews Paul was writing too were more well versed in the Law than they were the Gospel. They had lived for generations with the Law and were deeply entrenched in the Law mindset. They believed that righteousness was according to the Law! It took some of them a long time to renew their minds in the truth of the Gospel. We just saw that the Law could only expose sin. Let’s check out how the Law failed to reveal righteousness before we continue on into the unveiling of righteousness by faith.

UNABLE TO REVEAL RIGHTEOUSNESS ~

Paul rebuked Peter to his face for coming to Antioch and refraining from eating with the Gentiles because of fear towards the religious Jewish rules. Paul recorded this in Galatians 2:11-14 and immediately unleashed one of his most simple truths in the following verses.

Paul (a Messianic Jew) probably still speaking to Peter (another Messianic Jew) ~ “15“We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; 16nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”

Although they were both Jews who knew the Law and were even born under the Law, their justification (righteousness) was not through the Law but through faith! Paul continued ~

“18“For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19“For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. 20“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

V.18 made it clear that they could not rebuild the Law because they died *to the Law* in Christ! (Don’t try to understand it, it takes faith to believe this miracle.) They were dead to the Law because v. 21 revealed that Christ death would have been in vain if righteousness were possible through works of the Law!

So now we know that the Law was truly unable to reveal/give righteousness (which is, among other things, approval with God). Thank you Peter for missing it so much that Paul had the opportunity to clearly reveal such profound revelation! How great is the mercy of God our Father!?

RIGHTEOUSNESS REVEALED ~

Ok. I’ve hinted at this from Romans 1 and Galatians 2. Since these were all accounts recorded towards Messianic Jews (who had been born under the Law), I will continue in that thought via Romans 10.

Romans 9-11 is Paul’s clarification concerning the Jewish people and on Chapter 10 he greatly elaborates on 2 things.
1. Faith
2. Righteousness

This is one of the main points of the entire letter to the Romans and it completely captures what Paul had started talking about way back in Romans 1:16-17. (And you may think I’m longwinded…haha)

Paul wrote concerning the Jews in Romans 10: ~ “1Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them (The Jews) is for their salvation. 2For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.” *This knowledge is *not* information because they had the Law! This knowledge is “epignosis” which is that intimate knowing that I very briefly mentioned above.*

They had zeal and knowledge, but not relationship.

Next verses ~ ” 3For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone believing!”

That moment is like the Death Star being destroyed in A New Hope.

Trying to perform righteousness by the Law and works was equivalent to ignoring the righteousness of God and establish manmade righteousness! But Christ is “The End” of the Law for righteousness to everyone believing! The Greek word for the end is more literally “The Consummation” or the “end goal” or “purpose”.

The Law didn’t just end like a movie is over. The Law’s complete purpose was fully realized in Christ and righteousness has been revealed!

HOW?

By faith.

Not by works. Law or otherwise. Not even by works according to the Sermon on the Mount!

Are you hearing this? Recall that Jesus had said in the S.O.M. ~ 20“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees was the righteousness of the Law. Our righteousness that surpasses that is the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!

Approval with God is not by anything we could ever do! Even if we perfectly fulfill every instruction that Jesus ever spoke to the Jews in that generation, we could not gain one ounce of approval with God.

We have approval with God by faith.

Jesus is our faith. We do not have faith in anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself!

We are perfectly righteous because of Jesus forever and we cannot add to that or take away from it!

I wanted to jump into how the Gospel revealed that grace (through righteousness) now empowers us to overcome sin, but I need to wrap up one more point on righteousness.

Everyone who has believed is already in Christ with every spiritual blessing. ( Especially in Eph.1:3, 2:6 but also in Col.3:1-3 & Rom. 6:5-11)

God has already reconciled us to himself because we are in Christ and he made us the righteousness of God in him (2 Cor. 5:14-21) but it will probably help you to intentionally receive his free gift of righteousness. Let me be clear ~ All who have been born-again by receiving the Holy Spirit have the gift of righteousness. According to those verses in 2 Cor.5, not only are we righteous but God has made us the righteousness of God! We are already a completely new Creation.

But, it may help *you* (not God) to acknowledge it before the Lord. It may increase your faith in what God has already given you.

FOREVER RIGHTEOUS BY THE GIFT ~

I first heard this revelation of righteousness from an Andrew Wommack teaching (which is free at AWMI.net) and 3 years ago, it changed my life forever! Romans 5:17 opened my the eyes of my heart forever ~” 17For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”

HOW DID I RECEIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS?

First consider a few verses in Romans 10 ~

“6But the righteousness based on faith speaks…”” 8But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation”

“17So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

All of these passages emphasize not just believing, but speaking (and therefore hearing) the Faith. It helps *us* (not God) when we speak the Truth about what God has said about us because it increases our faith in what God has already done!

Remember that God has already given us everything to pertaining to life and Godliness (2 Peter 1:1-4) but that passage revealed that we partake of all these aspects of his divine nature through the knowledge (relationship) with him.

So I began to praise and worship God for giving me his righteousness in Christ! For a few months I was in euphoria because for a few years I had been seeking “primarily the Kingdom of God and his righteousness” and truly I had been unable to find it. His ways are beyond searching out! Who can know them?

Hahaha…and that is true.

But they are not beyond him revealing them. It is the Father’s good pleasure (his perfect will!) to give you the Kingdom. ~ Jesus.

Jesus also said that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth would guide us into all truth and convince us of righteousness because Jesus has gone to the Father! (and he has taken us with him/in him. Yup, It takes faith to believe that miracle too.) John 16:5-15

Romans 14:17 ~ “The Kingdom of God is not food or drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”